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Nergal
Nergal is the Sumerian god of the plague, warfare, the desert, destruction, negative aspects of the sun, and the underworld. He is the husband of Ereshkigal who is the Queen of Irkalla (the Sumerian Underworld). He spends most of his time in the Sumerian underworld except when his wife lets him out so he can kill people and bring them back with him to Irkalla. History The story of how Nergal became the husband of Ereshkigal began at a banquet of the heavenly Sumerian gods, Ereshkigal cannot meet directly with the great gods Anu, Enlil, and Enki (Ea), to whom she is intimately related. The gods therefore send a messenger to her, inviting her to send her own servant to receive her portion of their divine banquet in the heavens. Ereshkigal sends her faithful minister Namtar, who climbs "the long stairway to heaven" and is respectfully received. Only Nergal, the god of war and diseases, refuses to stand in his presence. Nergal was required to make restitution for his insult by descending into Ir-Kalla. The wise and compassionate Ea assists Nergal by providing him with seven demons to protect him and instructing Nergal not to accept the hospitality he will be offered as Ereskigal's guest, especially, "not to do with her that which men and women do."At first, Nergal remembered and listened to Ea´s advice. Later however, after the goddess allowed him to see her stripping for her bath, Nergal gave in to his desire. After six days of passionate lovemaking, Nergal left Ereshkigal asleep and made his way back to the heavens. Finding herself abandoned, the goddess was heartbroken and angry. Ereshkigal dispatched Namtar with a touching message for the gods. She spoke of her loneliness as a young goddess separated from those she loved, complained of her difficult burdens as the ruler of the Underworld since an early age, and finally threatened to cause the dead to rise and make war on the living if her lover is not returned to her. Ultimately Nergal is forced to return but after seeing Ereshkigal again Nergal realizes he loves her and he doesn't want to leave. After the fall of the Mesopotamian gods Nergal and Ereshkigal were safe in the underworld and survived the downfall of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Since the fall however, Ereshkigal sometimes allows Nergal to leave the underworld to cause havoc and harvest souls to increase the population of the underworld. During his excursions in the upper world, Nergal will often work as a mercenary for evil powers such as Kronos, Loki, and later on the Apotheosis Initiative. Despite nominally being the king of the Sumerian Underworld, Ereshkigal made it clear early on their marriage that she was the one in charge. Ereshkigal likes things to be orderly and cares a lot about proper manners. Ereshkigal is the one being Nergal is truly afraid of, she is able to intimidate him into submission with the slightest word or gesture. His excursions into the mortal world allow Nergal to release his pent up frustrations and emotions. Personality Nergal is aloof, cruel, and violent during his excursions to the mortal world. He sees demigods and mortals as objects for him to take his anger and sexual frustration out on. Nergal is ashamed of the fact that his wife is able to intimidate him the way she does and will lie about their relationship to other people. Despite his fear of Ereshkigal, Nergal does love her in his own sick way which is why he always returns to the underworld. Abilities * Standard abilities of a god * Nosokinesis: divine control over diseases and bacteria * Pyrokinesis: divine control over fire ** Nergal cannot use his p * Ability to induce aggression and lower inhibitionsCategory:Sumerian deity